The Craft of Research: Quick Tip, intro to visuals

Quick Tip: how and when to quote, how and when to paraphrase.

• Where to paraphrase: sciences.
• Where to quote: humanities.
• How to paraphrase: Restate in your own words and cite, mentioning the author's name in the sentence if you want to highlight him/her/them.
• How to quote: (1) Introduce or use a colon (e.g. The authors describe how to introduce a quote: "with a colon or introductory phrase" (Booth, Colomb, and Williams 172)). (2) Integrate it, using [] and ... to make the grammar of the quote match that of the sentence. (3) Block quote, for at least three lines of source text; clearly connect your idea with the quote.
• "Do not begin a sentence with quoted material and end it with your own words" - do it the other way around.
• When to quote: you wish to use the source as primary data/authoritative, or when the exact words are better to use.
• When to paraphrase: content is more important than exact words, or when you can say it better.

Introduction to using visuals in a paper

• Tables/graphs/charts are good if the data you want to show are well-defined or show a relationship (independent to dependent variables). Examples: change in numbers of something, distribution of ages, etc.
• Factors: Precision (charts/graphs <>
• Principles: Arrange data for your purpose; keep it very simple; and keep your point (in the actual text of the paper) as adjacent as possible to the graphic.